Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?
Your gaming PC deserves one of the best graphics cards. In 2024, the competitiveness between Nvidia and AMD is hotter than it has ever been, and there are several great options regardless of your budget or performance target.
We've reviewed every GPU from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel to bring you a comprehensive list of the best GPUs for gaming. If you're considering an upgrade, make sure to read our guide on how to install a graphics card, as well as some of the most common GPU problems.
Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gamingNvidia RTX 4070 Super Review
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: It's much faster than the original model, and it comes in at the same price.
Who's it for: Midrange to high-end gamers looking for a GPU that can handle the most demanding games at 1440p.
What we thought of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super:
The RTX 4070 was already a great graphics card, but Nvidia made it even better with a Super refresh. This new version is between 10% and 15% faster than the base model based on our testing, and it still comes with all of the features that made the original version so impressive.
Now, you're getting frame rates at the target resolution that are consistently above 100 fps, and often much more. On top of that the RTX 4070 Super has enough power to press up to 4K, assuming you make a few compromises in the most demanding games. It's the Swiss Army Knife of graphics cards, filling its duty as a gaming workhorse in just about any situation.
It comes with Nvidia's excellent DLSS 3.5, as well. It's a huge asset in games like Alan Wake 2 with path tracing turned on, and it can make demanding games more playable at 4K. Between DLSS 3, solid raw performance, and an attainable price, the RTX 4070 Super nails a sweet spot that most graphics cards miss.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super
The best graphics card for gaming
Nvidia RTX 4080 Super Review
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: The RTX 4080 Super is expensive, but it feels tailor-made for 4K gaming.
Who's it for: 4K gamers who need above 60 fps in the most demanding games.
What we thought of the Nvidia RTX 4080 Super:
The original RTX 4080 was a bit of a disappointment due to its high price, but the RTX 4080 Super corrects that. Coming in at $200 less, it's the premium 4K gaming graphics card that we've been begging for, and it delivers stable performance across a wide swath of games.
Although the RTX 4080 Super isn't quite as powerful as the RTX 4090, features like DLSS 3 help fill in the gap. That makes ray tracing possible at 4K, even at high frame rates. DLSS isn't new, but the addition of frame generation and ray reconstruction on the RTX 4080 Super can massively boost your frame rate in demanding titles.
The card is big and bulky, but unlike the RTX 4090, it doesn't require a ton of power. It stays at the same wattage as the previous generation, and in real-world use, it actually consumes about 50W less.
For video editing, it's tough to beat the RTX 4080. Although there are better value options for gaming, Nvidia still has a massive lead in video editing, and it accelerated tasks in apps like Adobe After Effects and DaVinci Resolve in a way that AMD graphics cards just can't.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super
The best graphics card for 4K gaming
AMD RX 7900 XTX Review
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: It offers some of the best 4K gaming performance you can find today, and at a reasonable price.
Who’s it for: High-end gamers who need high frame rates, but don't care much about ray tracing.
What we thought of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX:
The lineup of current-gen GPUs all have one thing in common: they're expensive. That makes choosing the best GPU tough, but AMD has a compelling offer this time around. The RX 7900 XTX offers flagship performance at an excellent value amid the inflated landscape of GPU prices right now.
For raw performance, the RX 7900 XTX is capable of running the most demanding PC above 60 frames per second (fps), and in the case of titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Horizon Zero Dawn, it can even hit around 100 fps. It can go toe-to-toe with the RTX 4080 Super, though it has lost some rankings since Nvidia dropped the price of its 4K GPU.
In addition, it's smaller, and it calls for standard 8-pin power rather than the 12-pin connector featured on Nvidia's most recent GPUs. That doesn't mean the RX 7900 XTX is without faults. It gets loud and it runs hot and compared to Nvidia, it lacks prowess in ray tracing games.
Even with those caveats, the RX 7900 XTX is an excellent graphics card that can power high-end gaming in demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
The best AMD graphics card for 4K gaming
AMD RX 7900 GRE Review
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: It's the best AMD graphics card we've seen this generation.
Who's it for: Gamers who want great 1440p and 4K performance and don't care much about ray tracing.
What we thought of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE:
The AMD RX 7900 GRE seems like a mistake. The card was originally released in China several months ago, and it never seemed like it would come to the U.S. Now, it's finally here, and with a bargain bin price of $550.
It's a direct response to Nvidia's competition at around this price, delivering slightly better performance than the RTX 4070 Super overall for a lower price. In our review, we call it the best AMD GPU we've seen this generation. It manages to match the RTX 4070 Super at a lower price, while outclassing the RTX 4070 by around 15% at the same price.
For frame chasers, the RX 7900 GRE is the best GPU at this price. The main reason the RX 7900 GRE loses out from a top slot is the RTX 4070 Super - for a slight premium, you have access to better ray tracing performance and DLSS.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
The best AMD graphics card
AMD RX 7600 Review
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: It's a solid 1080p graphics card at a reasonable price.
Who’s it for: 1080p gamers on a tight budget.
What we thought of the AMD Radeon RX 7600:
The RX 7600 isn't a showstopper graphics card, but it's the closest we've seen to a true budget offering this generation. Arriving art $270, the GPU offers above 60 fps in demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p.
That's what you want out of a graphics card under $300. The RX 7600 manages to meet, and often exceed, the 60 fps mark for demanding titles at 1080p. It also supports AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), so it can scale up to higher frame rates in titles like Starfield and Alan Wake 2.
The card only really loses out when it comes to ray tracing. AMD cards aren't great when it comes to ray tracing, and this budget-focused offering doesn't change that story. It can handle some lighter ray tracing in games like Resident Evil 4, but you'll need to turn off the feature in anything more demanding.
AMD Radeon RX 7600
The best graphics card under $300
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Review
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: It's the most powerful graphics card you can buy today, hands down.
Who’s it for: High-end enthusiasts that want the best of the best regardless of price.
What we thought of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090:
The RTX 4090 is a nonsense graphics card, and we mean that in the best way possible. It's $1,600, which is hard to justify spending on any graphics card. But if you want the best of the best, the RTX 4090 is it, and by a significant margin.
The previous GPU champion, the RTX 3090 Ti, looks puny by comparison. Based on our testing, the RTX 4090 is nearly 70% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti, and almost 90% faster than the RTX 3090. It's a 4K graphics card that enables features like ray tracing in the most demanding games available today.
It's overkill for most people, and it comes with some high demands. You'll need a power supply with a lot of wattage, and you'll need a case to accommodate the card's massive size. It's a reasonable trade-off for high-end enthusiasts, though, especially with features like DLSS 3 on offer.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
The best graphics card for video editing
AMD RX 7900 XTX Review
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: It's a powerful 4K GPU, and it supports DisplayPort 2.1 for high-end VR headsets.
Who's it for: VR enthusiasts who want to drive high-end headsets.
What we thought of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT:
The AMD RX 7900 XT isn't the best graphics card on the market, but it's the best choice for VR. The main reason why is support for DisplayPort 2.1. High-end VR headsets require a ton of bandwidth, and DisplayPort 2.1 is the only connection standard that can deliver.
Although the RX 7900 XT doesn't pose a great value, it's no slouch of a GPU. Even at the high resolutions demanded by VR, it can deliver solid frame rates. It's even faster than Nvidia's RTX 4070 Ti, all while costing around the same price.
Even better, you can find it readily available at online retailers. Popular graphics cards still sell out immediately, but the RX 7900 XT is available at list price basically everywhere. It's great for VR, but you can also leverage it for 4K gaming on a typical monitor.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
The best graphics card for VR
Intel Arc A770 Review
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: It's a great graphics card for the price, minus a few bugs.
Who's it for: Gamers looking for a great deal that don't mind dealing with a few bugs.
What we thought of the Intel Arc A750:
Intel's Arc A750 has gotten much better since launch, now sporting solid DirectX 9 support and much faster drivers. It has always been competitive with Nvidia's RTX 3060 while costing around $100 less, but it looks even more enticing now that Intel has slashed the A750's price to $250.
AMD usually is the budget alternative to Nvidia, and although that's still true, Nvidia has been the way to go if you want to turn on ray tracing. The Arc A750 has competitive ray tracing, unlike its AMD counterparts, meaning it can truly go toe-to-toe with the RTX 3060.
On top of that, the card also supports Intel's XeSS upscaling feature, which uses AI to upscale your games and improve performance. It's not available in a ton of games, but Intel should add support in more titles over the coming months.
Intel Arc A750
The best graphics card for the money
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: It's the sweet spot of Nvidia's current mobile lineup of GPUs.
Who's it for: Gamers on the go that need the perfect balance of power.
What we thought of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 mobile:
If you want the ultimate mobile gaming experience, it's hard to beat the RTX 4070 mobile. It's not the fastest laptop graphics card Nvidia currently offers, but it's by far the best. It's available in a massive number of laptops, including the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 and Razer Blade 14, and all of them offer great performance at a 1440p resolution.
What's most impressive about the RTX 4070 mobile, however, is that it's scalable. You can pump it with power in a large, 16-inch laptop for a small performance boost, but the efficiency of the GPU means it has a home in thinner machines like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14.
It also has access to DLSS 3.5, making things like ray tracing possible on a laptop. You won't find the RTX 4070 available in more budget-focused machines, but if you have the cash to spare, it definitely strikes the perfect balance of efficiency and power for a laptop.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 mobile
The best graphics card for laptops
Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti Super Review
Pros
Cons
Why should you buy this: It's only OK on its own, but the RTX 4070 Ti Super shines with DLSS 3.
Who's it for: Gamers who want flagship performance but don't have an unlimited budget.
What we thought of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super:
The RTX 4070 Ti wasn't a perfect graphics card. The RTX 4070 Ti Super corrects some of the mistakes of the base model, however. It comes in at the same $800 price, but with a solid 10% boost in performance over the base model. Still, what really stands out for this GPU is DLSS 3.
DLSS 3 adds DLSS Frame Generation, allowing you to massively improve your frame rate in games like Atomic Heart, Cyberpunk 2077, and, Warhammer 40:000: Darktide. It's exclusive to Nvidia's most recent generation, and although DLSS 3 isn't available in every game, it's a selling point in the few demanding titles that feature the tech.
In standard performance, the RTX 4070 Ti Super delivers 4K gaming performance on the level of last-gen flagships, narrowly beating out cards like the RTX 3090. It's still a very powerful GPU, even if it's a bit expensive for the current generation. The good news is that this Super refresh has pushed prices down to the $800 list price.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super
The best graphics card with DLSS 3
How much should you spend on a graphics card?
As a rule of thumb, you should dedicate about 30% of your budget to a graphics card for a gaming PC. For 1080p, you should spend around $300 to $400; for 1440p, around $400 to $500; and for 4K, $600 or above. The Radeon RX 6600 XT targets 1080p at $379, the GeForce RTX 3070 is great for 1440p at $500, and the GeForce RTX 3080 is the perfect video card for 4K at $700.
Graphics cards are vastly overpriced in 2022, though. As it stands now, you can expect to pay double what you should for each resolution. Hopefully, that will change in the coming months.
How can you find the right power supply for a graphics card?
Nvidia and AMD recommend power supply wattage for their most recent graphics card. The Radeon RX 6800 XT, for example, draws 300W of power and AMD recommends a 750W PSU at least. Similarly, the GeForce RTX 3080 video card draws 320W and Nvidia recommends a 750W PSU. These recommendations aren't always perfect, though, so we recommend using a PSU calculator.
How do you know which graphics card will best suit your needs?
Finding the graphics card that will best suit your needs comes down to the resolution of your display and the kinds of games you play. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 is great for 4K, for example, but it's overkill for 1080p where the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT shines. The lower your display's resolution, the less you need to spend on a graphics card.
Beyond that, consider the games you want to play and at what frame rates. You can use the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super for everything from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to Borderlands 3, but you might need to step up to the GeForce RTX 3070 to play games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
When it comes to GPUs and graphics cards, we go in full depth. Year after year, we test dozens of GPUs from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, to determine which are worth your money and which are dead on arrival. To simplify the process of choosing a new graphics card, TechSpot's guide to the best GPUs aims to answer one simple question: Given a specific budget, which graphics card should you buy?
The current GPU generation is strong, but its cost is notably higher compared to previous years, leading to a perceived lack of value and consequently, lower levels of excitement. Regrettably, we don't foresee a major change in this trend anytime soon, as GPU makers are prioritizing the production of high-margin data center and AI hardware. It's also important to note that the next generation of GPUs won't arrive until late 2024 or early 2025. That's something to keep in mind for those deciding whether to wait for an upgrade or to purchase now.
We have organized this guide from bottom to top, presenting our top GPU picks at each price point, starting from the most affordable options and working our way up to the most expensive one.
Starting with the most affordable graphics cards, you won't find any latest generation GPUs in this segment. From AMD, you have the choice of the Radeon RX 6400 for $125, the 6500 XT at $140, the Radeon 6600 at $190, or perhaps the 6650 XT, though this one exceeds $200 at $230.
From Nvidia, there's the disappointing GTX 1630 at $135, the more appealing GTX 1650 at $170, the RTX 3050 at $180, the GTX 1660 Super at $190, and then the GTX 1650 Super. The latter, priced at $250, appears to be running low on stock, so you can ignore that. Newcomer Intel also has two options in this price range: the A580 at $180, and the A750 at $210.
When looking at the lower-priced options – the RX 6400, 6500 XT, and GTX 1630, all priced below $150 – frankly, they are all terrible options, but the 6500 XT stands out as the least unsatisfactory choice among them. Despite being limited to PCIe 3.0, the 6500 XT is almost 70% faster than the GTX 1630 while costing $5 more. Both models come with just 4GB of VRAM, making them unsuitable for high-end gaming. However, at the lowest quality settings and 1080p resolution, the 6500 XT can deliver 30+ fps in most modern games.
But, in general, we strongly advise to overlook these, as their performance is lackluster. Instead, consider adding an extra $50 for the Radeon RX 6600. While still a budget product by today's standards, compared to the 6500 XT and GTX 1630, it performs significantly better, offering 1.7x the performance of the 6500 XT and 3.6x that of the GTX 1630.
To put it another way, the Radeon RX 6600 is on average 78% faster than the 6500 XT and costs just 36% more. If you limit the 6500 XT to PCIe 3.0 instead of 4.0, the RX 6600's performance advantage skyrockets to 127% faster. Just as important, the 6500 XT has only 4GB of VRAM, while the RX 6600 comes with 8GB.
The Intel A580 and A750 GPUs are decent options. Priced similarly to the Radeon 6600, the A750 generally performs a bit faster, while the A580 offers comparable performance at a slightly lower price. We wouldn't discard them as alternatives but it's important to note that Arc GPUs require a system with Resizable BAR support to perform this well. Although Intel has made significant progress on drivers, we still run into issues when benchmarking these GPUs across a wide range of games, especially new releases, and new driver updates to fix issues can take days or even weeks to become available.
The Radeon RX 6600 is our number one pick for budget builds, with Intel GPUs coming in as a secondary choice, with no real competition from Nvidia in this segment. The RTX 3050 is slower than the RX 6600 by a ~30% margin. The RTX 3050's pricing also puts it in competition with the $230 Radeon 6650 XT, which is about 20% faster than the standard 6600, making the latter the best value and the GeForce an absolute no-go.
If you want to buy a current-gen GPU, but still want to spend as little as possible, your options are the Radeon RX 7600 or Intel Arc A770 for $270 or the GeForce RTX 4060 for $300. These are 8GB graphics cards, except for Intel's GPU which offers 16GB, but none are particularly outstanding in terms of performance.
Performance-wise, both AMD and Nvidia models are about the same, offering previous generation low-end performance at a slightly better MSRP. Compared to the Radeon RX 6600, these are ~25% faster but cost at least 40% more, and almost 60% more in the case of the RTX 4060.
Based on our 15-game average data from the RTX 4060 review, the GeForce GPU produced an average frame rate of 91 fps, whereas the RX 6600 managed 71 fps. This makes the newer, more expensive GeForce GPU ~28% faster. If maximizing value for money is your priority, purchasing the Radeon RX 6600 and accepting a slight performance decrease can lead to substantial savings. However, if you're set on a current generation GPU, either the RX 7600 or RTX 4060 will do.
We feel that, in this instance, the GeForce GPU is worth the premium, as it is only $35 more expensive and offers access to DLSS. Ideally, based on their specifications, the RTX 4060 and company should be priced at $240 or below, but unfortunately these ideal prices are not reflective of the current market.
Stepping up the budget to the $400 to $450 range, you have the option of the $400 8GB RTX 4060 Ti – for an 8GB graphics card in today's market, that's too expensive. However, the 16GB RTX 4060 dropped from $500 to a more reasonable $450, and so there's little justification for choosing the 8GB version.
The competing Radeon 7700 XT had a lukewarm reception at launch, as its MSRP was only $50 less than the 7800 XT, representing a mere 10% savings for a product that was 16% slower and had 25% less VRAM. However, AMD has since adjusted pricing and the Radeon 7700 XT is now ~$90 cheaper than the 7800 XT, making them similar in terms of cost per frame.
And with that, is the Radeon 7700 XT a viable option at $400, or is the 16GB RTX 4060 Ti for $450 a better deal?
For rasterized performance, the 7700 XT is 14% faster, and for ray tracing, the margins can be similar in games like Fortnite, though other titles like Cyberpunk 2077 heavily favor the GeForce GPU. Generally speaking, neither GPU is robust enough to fully capitalize on RT effects, so in our opinion, RT performance is less critical in this context.
These are 1440p GPUs, so upscaling plays a more significant role than with the RX 7600 and RTX 4060. The RTX 4060 Ti also has more VRAM, though the jump from 12GB to 16GB is less impactful than going from 8GB to 12GB.
Choosing between the 16GB RTX 4060 Ti and the RX 7700 XT is challenging, as they are quite similar. However, prioritizing rasterization performance at this tier, we would lean towards the 7700 XT, which offers a notable improvement in 1440p performance, such as increasing the frame rate in Cyberpunk 2077 from 64 fps to 83 fps. Nevertheless, the generally superior DLSS quality at 1440p could sway us towards the GeForce GPU for the extra $10.
Also worth mentioning here, while supplies last, is the Radeon RX 6800 at just $400. The RX 6800 offers similar performance to the 7700 XT, but gives you an extra 4GB of VRAM to match the 4060 Ti 16GB, and costs $10 less. Power efficiency is similar between the two, though the 6800 lacks AV1 encoding. For a rasterization-focused buyer, we'd choose the RX 6800 over the 7700 XT while it's still available at that price difference.
In the upper mid-range, we have a few GPUs competing with some price differentiation between them: the RTX 4070 Super sits at $590, the recently released RX 7900 GRE at $550, the discounted RTX 4070 which is around $525, and the aforementioned the Radeon 7800 XT which sells for around $500.
The Radeon RX 7800 XT is clearly the best value for rasterization: 7% better than the 7900 GRE and 14% better than the 4070 Super. The RTX 4070 Super is typically the fastest GPU, but also the most expensive in this range, and it's only 9% faster than the 7800 XT for rasterization. The 7900 GRE simply isn't cheap enough at current prices.
With superior ray tracing performance, this flips, and now the RTX 4070 Super is the best buy, though it's only slightly ahead of the vanilla RTX 4070. In our 10-game sample, we had the 4070 Super offering 15% more performance for a 12% price premium based on current prices, so the decision mostly comes down to whether you want to pay $590 or $525, as you get corresponding levels of performance.
This applies in general to the battle between AMD and Nvidia. Around $600, we're most tempted by the RTX 4070 Super, but at $500, the Radeon 7800 XT makes a strong case for itself. With that said, we could easily be convinced to spend the extra $35 on the RTX 4070 to gain access to faster ray tracing and Nvidia's superior feature set while only sacrificing around 10% in rasterization performance. The 7800 XT was more attractive compared to the 4070 when it launched because it was $100 cheaper than the Nvidia alternative, but with that gap shrinking to just $35, it has allowed Nvidia's offering to become much more appealing.
With a more ample budget for a graphics card, your options in this segment include the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti for $680, the Radeon 7900 XT for $700, the newer RTX 4070 Ti Super at $800, along the Radeon 7900 XTX at $930 and the RTX 4080 Super at a hefty $1,000.
The battle between the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and the Radeon 7900 XT is heavily stacked in favor of the Radeon GPU at about the same price point. Based on our data, the 7900 XT is ~8% faster on average for rasterized gaming, a modest win, and then 7% slower on average for ray tracing, although the margins here will vary greatly depending on the games used for testing.
Overall performance is generally similar, but our main issue with the RTX 4070 Ti is paying that much money for a mere 12GB frame buffer. For instance, we've seen how much better the 16GB Radeon RX 6800 aged compared to the 8GB GeForce RTX 3070, particularly with texture issues in games like Halo Infinite. It's a close battle nonetheless
When discussing rasterization, the Radeon 7900 XT also offers the best value against the RTX 4070 Ti Super, however when it comes to ray tracing, the 4070 Ti and Ti Super are much faster, with the base Ti offering 23% more performance on average for $20 less.
For those seeking even more performance, the Radeon 7900 XTX offers similar value to the XT version, delivering ~20% more performance for a 24% premium ($910 as of writing). It also has a bit more VRAM, although that might be superfluous. The Nvidia Super GPU effectively replaces the original 4080 model for $1,000 (a price cut compared to the original, believe it or not).
The Radeon 7900 XTX is typically ~10% faster in rasterized games, and 24% slower for ray traced games. This puts it in an interesting position where the best GPU for you may depend on how you value ray tracing.
The RTX 4080 Super is better value for ray tracing, offering 18% better cost per frame, but the 7900 XTX is about 20% better cost per frame for rasterization. Then there's DLSS, which surpasses FSR for upscaling and frame generation, though the difference is less noticeable at higher resolutions. There's reasons to go either way, but with a superior feature set, the RTX 4080 Super is generally the better choice.
Our final pick is quite straightforward. If you want the best of the best and aren't concerned about the price, you're Nvidia's favorite sort of person. Step right up and let me introduce you to the RTX 4090 for a cool $1,800 – it's supposed to cost closer to $1,600 (list price), but Nvidia decided that's too cheap, so it's been up and down, sometimes selling in excess of $2,000.
The RTX 4090 wins the ultimate high-end GPU category by default. There's no competition from AMD as it offers ~25% more performance than the 7900 XTX, and while it might cost 100% more at retail, select gamers who want the best there is appear more than happy to pay the premium. It's also ~32% faster than the RTX 4080 Super, making the 4090 over 80% more expensive. Not a significant concern if you have plenty of money to spend on a premium gaming graphics card, but typically, the 4080 Super is a more sensible choice.
That means the RTX 4090 has been a massive success for Nvidia, so don't expect the next generation of extreme GPUs to be any cheaper, if anything the safe bet would be for prices to increase, oh my.